In: Physics
A submarine can use sonar (sound traveling through water) to determine its distance from other objects. The time between the emission of a sound pulse (a "ping") and the detection of its echo can be used to determine such distances. Alternatively, by measuring the time between successive echo receptions of a regularly timed set of pings, the submarine's speed may be determined by comparing the time between pings. Assume you are the sonar operator in a submarine traveling at a constant velocity underwater. Your boat is in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the speed of sound is known to be 1522 m/s. If you sent out pings every 4.1 s, and your apparatus receives echoes reflected from an undersea cliff every 4.09 s, how fast is your submarine approaching the cliff?